The Traitors viewers left baffled by unexplained finale change

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Fans of The Traitors expressed their bemusement after a tweak was seemingly made for the reality show’s second series finale.

The hit BBC programme, in which contestants are divided into “Traitors” and “Faithfuls” and must attempt to win the trust of their fellow competitors, came to an end on Friday night (26 January) in an episode full of “perfectly orchestrated chaos”.

By the end of the 70-minute episode, 22-year-old British Army engineer Harry had been announced as the winner.

However, viewers were taken aback by a change in the decor for the special episode.

In the episode, the remaining contestants were seen gathering around an open fire for the final ceremony. In a departure from previous stagings, the fire was this time situated indoors.

Fans of the show expressed concern about the logistics of an indoor fire, with some wondering whether it was a potential hazard.

“Shame on you @BBCOne having an open fire indoors on #Traitors. Please do not do this at home everyone, it could kill you. Set a better example, why not do it in a fireplace, there were loads there?? Very bad judgement,” one person wrote.

“I preferred last year’s end game with the fire pit outside the castle. Far more of a spectacle. This year’s was dingy,” wrote another.

“Health and safety must have been on pins with the firepit ceremony having to take place inside,” remarked someone else.

While the reason for the change was not explained, some fans speculated that it could have been related to bad weather in the area where the series is filmed. The Traitors is shot in the Scottish Highlands.

“They brought the firepit inside? Must have been raining,” one viewer suggested.

“It’s RAINING so we’ll just do the fire pit inside. Love it,” another quipped.

In a five-star review of the finale, The Independent’s critic Nick Hilton wrote: “This year, now that the format is more established and scrutinised, it’s clear that The Traitors has mastered a form of perfect imperfection.

“The game itself makes little to no sense: the Faithfuls this year managed to correctly uncover four different Traitors at the evening roundtables, yet still had to face off against two Traitors in the final. It renders the first several rounds of the game essentially pointless. [...] And yet, The Traitors pulls off its tricks, in large part because it understands that the essence of any good reality TV is human psychodrama.”